Introduction to Sound Design

ATEC 2385-001 2422

Mondays 4:00-6:45PM
Location: ATEC 1.103 (Sound Lab)

Instructor Contact Information:

MICHAEL AUSTIN
michael.austin@utdallas.edu
Office Hours: Mondays 3:00-4:00PM or by appointment

Course Pre-requisites, Co-requisites, and/or Other Restrictions

None

Course Description:
This class, as an introduction to sound design, will present the basic aspects of the
technique, industry, and aesthetics of sound design.

Student Learning Objectives/Outcomes

Knowledge:
Students will understand:
-The principles of mechanics and acoustics necessary to understand, the generation,
propagation, and perception of sound.
- The principles of electroacoustic processing
- The principles of digital sound processing
-The various specialties of sound design as they are used in the media industry and the
necessary skills and knowledge necessary to the performance of these professions.
-Students will also acquire a basic knowledge on music consisting at least in some historical
milestones.

Design capacities:
Students will:
- Understand the importance of sound design in various domains.
- Be able to identify and describe the sonic elements necessary for the soundtrack of movies,
animation movies, games, and interactive computer based applications.
- Be able to understand the relationships between sound, music and the other dimensions of
these applications.
- Be able to analyze the various components of a soundtrack and to critique these.
- Develop critical listening skills
- Be able to use sound and music to express themselves and to convey information.

Practical and technical skills:

Students will be able to:
-Use a digital recording equipment to record various types of sounds including: voices,
ambiences, and musical instruments
-Edit, process, and manipulate digital sounds
-Synchronize digital sounds to a movie
-Use a digital (MIDI) music software to edit, arrange and mix music
Students will acquire a sense of quality for sound.
Personal skills:
-Students will learn to LISTEN, to analyze the contents of their auditory perception and to
describe these contents.

Practice of recording
Practice of sound processing
Practice in listening
Acoustics
Electroacoustics
Psycho-acoustics
Music
Sound Design

Required Materials:
- A flashdrive that holds at least 2G
- Related course documents (available online)

Assignment & Academic Calendar

(Topics, Reading Assignments, Due Dates, Exam Dates)
Following schedule and assignments are subject to change by instructor
All assignments are to be completed BEFORE you come to class.

Session 1 (Aug. 23):

Syllabus handout/online/file on server

Introduction. The importance of listening.

Music 1: Contemporary electroacoustic music: Edgar Varese, “Déserts.” Discussion.

- Presentation of the contents of the class

- Presentation of the sound lab, sound booth and equipment used to record.
- Presentation of the main applications used in class (Soundtrack Pro, Garage Band,
Spear, PhotoSounder, Audacity, QuickTime Pro) and the available resources for these
applications: manuals, online docs and related websites.
- Presentation of other resources for the class

Presentation and explanation of the final project (listening to examples, 5 examples available
including the texts, discussion)
The students start thinking about the text that they will use. They start measuring how long
it takes to actually read out loud a text. A first proposal is due the following week.
This text must include: references to a character, actions performed by the character or
another one, a space in which the actions take place, a mood. These references will be used
to create the sonic components of final project: a voice, sound effects, ambient sounds and
music.
The scheduling for the final project is as follows:

Session 2 The first proposal for the text is due and reviewed in class
Session 3 The second and final proposal for the text is due and reviewed in class

Session 4 Defining the type of voices, identifying readers in and outside the class,
scheduling recording sessions to be done between session 4 and session
6.
Instructions for the recording are given during session 4.
Session 5 Review of the recordings done at this date.
Instructions for the editing of the readings are given during session 5.
Session 6 All the recordings of the readings are due and reviewed during this
session.
Session 7 The editing of the recording is due and reviewed in class.
Session 8 List and description of the ambient sounds to be used in the project is due
Creating the ambient sounds between Session 8 and Session 9
Session 9 The ambient sounds are due and reviewed in class
List and description of the sound effects is due
Creating the sound effects between session 9 and Session 11
Session 10 Description of the music and presentation of the temp music is due.
In this presentation, students must explain and defend their choice.
Instructions on creating, arranging, editing music are given during this
session.
Creating, finding, editing the music between Session 10 and Session 12

Session 11 The sound effects are due and reviewed during this session
Creating the music.
Session 12 Music is due and reviewed in class.
Instructions on the mixing of the project are given during session 12
Session 13 A first draft of the mix of the project is due and reviewed in class.
Session 14 This session is open for questions and problems regarding the final mix.
Session 15 The final version of the project is due and reviewed in class.

Session 2 (Aug. 30):

Music 2: Contemporary electroacoustic Music: Alvin Lucier, “Still lives.” Discussion.
Sine Waves and complex musical tones from the piano.

Acoustics: the physics of sound. Presentation of the package on acoustics

Acoustics Set 1.

Project: Review of the proposed texts for the final project. Students read out loud a
timed extract of their selected text (the reading should not be longer than 1 minute)
and the validity of the text is discussed. Students will point out the necessary
references in their text (character, action, space, mood)

University Closed for Labor Day (Sept. 6)

Session 3 (Sept. 13):
Music 3: Styles of Throat singing. Harmonics and resonance.

Acoustics Set 2

Project:
The second and final proposal for the text is due and reviewed in class

Session 4 (Sept. 20):

Music 4: “Tristis es Anima Mea,” Anonymous XIth century. The Deller Consort.
Tempo and form in harmony with the space and the reverberation of the space.

Acoustics Set 3
Files to be used are in the Session 4 Folder: Equal Loudness

Project:
Review of the recordings done at this date.
Instructions for the editing of the readings are given during session 5.

Session 5 (Sept. 27):

Music 5: Sufi Song from Morocco. Note the Melisma on certain notes.
Acoustics Set 4

Project:
Review of the recordings done at this date.
I nstructions for the editing of the readings are given during session 5.

Session 6 (Oct. 4):

Music 6: “La déploration de Johan Ockeghem,” Josquin des Prés (1450-1521)

Acoustics Set 5 hearing System.

Project:
All the recordings of the readings are due and reviewed during this session.

Session 7 (Oct. 11):

Music 7: Missa Nasce la gioja mia: “Kyrie,” Giovanni Palestrina (1525-1594).
Renaissance Polyphony.

Digital Sound Set1

Project:
The editing of the recording is due and reviewed in class.

Test 1 on Acoustics to be taken and graded in class.

Session 8 (Oct. 18):
Music 8: Ponte Novu. Traditional polyphonic Music from Corsica AND OR
Ballu Seriu. Folk Polyphony from Sardenia.

Digital Sound Set 2

Project:
List and description of the ambient sounds to be used in the project is due
Creating the ambient sounds between Session 8 and Session 9

Session 9 (Oct. 25):

Music 9: “Barricades,” Louis Couperin (1626-1661). The Early Baroque Era.

Digital Sound Set 3

Project:
The ambient sounds are due and reviewed in class
List and description of the sound effects is due
Creating the sound effects between session 9 and Session 11

Session 10 (Nov. 1):

Music 10: Concerto for Violin, Opus 8, No. 4, Winter: I Allegro. Antonio Vivaldi (1678-
1741).
The importance of the voice of the instrument. Connect to the beginning of the
Stradivari Family: Antonio (1644-1737)

Electroacoustics Set 1

Test 2 on Digital Sound to be taken and graded in class.

Project:
Description of the music and presentation of the temp music is due.
In this presentation, students must explain and defend their choice.
Instructions on creating, arranging, editing music are given during this session.
Creating, finding, editing the music between Session 10 and Session 12

Session 11 (Nov. 8):

Music 11: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988. J.S. Bach (1685-1750). Culmination of
Baroque Era.

Electroacoustics Set 2

Project:
The sound effects are due and reviewed during this session
Creating the music.
Session 12 (Nov. 15):
Music 12: Symphonie Périodique (1762). François Gossec (1734-1829). The division
of time. The structure. The emergence of a new audience.

Electroacoustics Set 3

Project:
Music is due and reviewed in class.
Instructions on the mixing of the project are given during session 12

Session 13 (Nov. 22):

Music 13: Piano Concerto No. 23 in A Major, K. 488: II. Adagio. W.A. Mozart (1756-
1791). The importance of dynamics in Music.

Electroacoustics Set 4

Project:
A first draft of the mix of the project is due and reviewed in class.

Session 14 (Nov. 29):

Music 14: String Quartet No. 14 in C Sharp Minor, Op. 131: I. Adagio ma non troppo e
molto espressivo. L. Van Beethoven (1770-1827). The Romantic Era. Expression and
effects of intensity and Timbre.

Test 3 on Electroacoustics to be taken and graded in class

Project:
This session is open for questions and problems regarding the final mix.

Session 15 (Dec. 6):

Music 15: String Quartet No. 4. Philip Glass. Eternal return of the forms supported
by timbre.

Class evaluation

Project:
The final version of the project is due and reviewed in class.
Grading Policy
Composition of final grade in percentages:
Attendance, Test 1 Test 2 Test 3 Final Project
Participation in class,
and exercises
20 10 10 10 50

100 - 90 = A
89 – 80 = B
79 – 70 = C
69 – 60 = D
59 – 0 = F

The evaluation of the assignments and of the final project is based on a list of criteria that
will be presented, discussed, and explained during the class.

If you do your own work, come to class with your assignment completed and turn it in on
time, spend time reading the course material and doing some critical listening practice on
your own, you should do well in this course!

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Avoiding Plagiarism
[Adapted from Duke University's guidelines for writers; added July 2010]

Take time to make careful choices among--and learn to use--the research tools available to
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Allow time for gathering materials that are not available at UT Dallas. The InterLibrary Loan
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Allow time for reading, rereading, absorbing information, taking notes, synthesizing, and
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Sloppy note-taking increases the risk that you will unintentionally plagiarize. Unless you have
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directly.) Make sure to indicate the exact beginning and end of the quoted passage. Copy the
wording, punctuation and spelling exactly as it appears in the original.

Jot down the page number and author or title of the source each time you make a note, even
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Keep a working bibliography of your sources so that you can go back to them easily when it's
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later on.

Keep a research log. As you search databases and consult reference books, keep track of
what search terms and databases you used and the call numbers and URLs of information
sources. This will help if you need to refine your research strategy, locate a source a second
time, or show your professor what works you consulted in the process of completing the
project.

You must cite direct quotes.

You must cite paraphrases. Paraphrasing is rewriting a passage or block of text in your own
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example, it is widely known that Bill Clinton served two terms as president; it would not be
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documents; Electronic sources: Web pages, articles from e-journals, newsgroup postings,
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Resources to Help You Succeed
The GEMS Center (located within the Conference Center) provides a wide array of free
academic support and enhancement for UT Dallas undergraduate students. Offerings
include, but are not limited to, a Math Lab and Writing Center, Peer Tutoring (with a focus
on science, technology, engineering and math courses), test review sessions, and academic
success coaching. The current menu of services, schedules, and contact information is
posted on the GEMS website: http://www.utdallas.edu/ossa/gems/. [Added July 2010]
General references and links:
Acoustics animations
http://paws.kettering.edu/~drussell/demos.html

Thousands of links related to audio

http://www.theprojectstudiohandbook.com/directory.htm

Glossary on audio
http://www.sweetwater.com/expert-center/glossary/

Audio Dramatist’s Lexicon

http://www.natf.org/wad/lexicon.htm#S

Rane Pro Audio references

http://www.rane.com/digi-dic.html

Film Sound
http://filmsound.org/

The Soundry
http://library.thinkquest.org/19537/Main.html

UCSC Sound for musicians

http://artsites.ucsc.edu/EMS/Music/tech_background/tech_background.html

Sound Art
http://www.sysx.org/soundsite/main.html

Project Examples
http://www.bambooturtle.us/dukeaudio2.html#Acoustics

Master of Science Audio and Music

http://www2.ph.ed.ac.uk/acoustics/MSc/topics.html

Basic explanations on Sound. Very good.

http://www.linuxfocus.org/English/March2003/article271.shtml

Online Music recording Magazine

http://www.soundonsound.com/

Conversions and calculations of all sorts (audio included)

http://www.sengpielaudio.com/Calculations03.htm